One Hundred Chances
by metro.max
Summary: A collection of one hundred Kataang drabbles. Chapter Eight: Cheat the Cheater; AU
1. 001, 017, 043

**Disclaimer: **All hail Mike and Bryan!

**Author's Notes: **I decided that, since I don't have enough to do as it is, I'm going to participate in the Kataang100 over at LiveJournal (there's a list of 100 prompts you have to write about). So, let's see how many I can do! Only 97 left to go!

Please **review**!

Alisa

* * *

001. Color_  
_

_Pull Me In _

The make-up was creamy under her fingers, the colors vibrant and rich against pale skin. It was a funny thing, to be putting make-up on a boy, but she decided she didn't mind.

Stark white across the plane of his blue-tipped forehead, his smooth cheeks, his rounded chin. Glowing red under his delicate brows, eyelids winking shut as she brushed her fingertips over them. He opened those stunning gray eyes and suddenly, shockingly, all thought left her mind. All that was left was captivating gray.

Her fingers worked without command: dipped in crimson, they rose to lips damp with anticipation. They traced slowly, leisurely, the line of his smile, of his pout, of his frown, of his kiss. Slowly, leisurely, they fell from his red mouth and were replaced y hot breath.

An explosion of colors, and all she could see was gray.

* * *

017. Secrets 

_Best Left Forgotten_

They don't keep things from each other; they don't hide things; they don't lie. Honesty is the best policy, after all.

Or at least, that's what she thinks.

He lies in bed, the gentle rise and fall of her sleeping body lulling him, remembering the one thing he never told her (_he could never tell her_), the one thing he hid (_he shouldn't have to_), his one big lie (_never again_).

He would never tell her that for one moment, his hands folded, the fate of the world before him, he didn't love her.

Some secrets are best left forgotten.

* * *

043. How High 

_Too Far_

"I'll do anything for you," he had told her, his eyes shining, his face earnest. "I'll do anything you want."

She knew it was true. She had never doubted it (_never doubted him_). He would have done anything for her; she would have done anything for him.

They were in love.

"Let's go somewhere," she'd say, and he would reply, "Where to?"

"Could you grab me some berries?" she'd ask, and he would respond, "How many?"

"Jump," she could've commanded, and he would have answered, "How high?"

But he let it go too far.

She never asked him to die.


	2. 072, 086

072. Sunrise 

_Abandoned Hope _

Navy faded to purple faded to pink faded to orange—sunrise. It should have been beautiful; it wasn't.

He heard her approach silently; pause behind him; waver in courage. Then she wrapped her arms around him, her chin nestled in the crook of his naked shoulder.

Neither spoke—they didn't need to. They knew what was upon them.

Golden light spilled over the horizon. Night fled at the warmth of day. The world began its awakening.

All he felt was cold.

"Tomorrow morning," she whispered, her breath warm, "we'll be watching the sunrise together."

He wished he could believe her.

* * *

086. She 

_Addition _

"Aang! _Aang_, wake up!"

The Avatar blinked open bleary eyes. "Whazit?"

"Aang, I can feel her kicking!"

Suddenly his drooping lids flew open. "You can what?"

"Feel it!" Katara whispered excitedly. "She's kicking!" Her hands directed his to the smooth, warm skin of her round belly, where a six-month-old baby was living.

He felt a sharp prod to his palm. "Ah, I felt it!" Aang's cheerful laughter filled the room. "She kicked!"

He smiled at his glowing wife and lowered his lips to her skin. "Hi there, Kana," he whispered. "How's it going in there?"

She kicked again. Aang smiled.


	3. 005, 024

024. Paper

_Unexpected Expectations_

He probably thought he was being subtle about it, she mused, watching from the corner of her eye as the Avatar pulled out a piece of paper.

He'd been doing that lately—drawing a scrap of paper from nowhere and scribbling on it when he thought she wasn't looking. Sometimes she'd glance at him and he'd scramble to hide his work; she would smile at his innocence and pretend she hadn't seen.

Finally the moment arrived.

"Katara?" He pushed the paper into her hand. "I wrote this for you."

Despite everything, the simple show of affection still made her blush.

* * *

005. Someday 

_The Final Resurrection_

A splash of blue amidst a sea of red. She cradled his head just as she had before, only this time, she knew.

He knew it too.

His fingertips traced a bloody path down her cheek. The corners of his lips turned up faintly. "Don't… cry."

A sob caught in her throat and she nodded, nodded, tears raining down upon him, silent as death.

She couldn't bear to look into those fading gray eyes—

—and yet she did.

Tears mingled with blood as her lips met his arrow, his brow, his cheek, his nose, his—

"No."

A finger reached up and found her lips gently; gray bore into blue.

"Not now," he whispered. His palm pressed against her heart and she knew.

Someday.


	4. 012, 082

012. Dream

_The Trouble with Reality_

_Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl with flowing hair and innocent eyes._

_ One day she met a handsome boy with a childish smile and a charming mouth. It was love at first sight._

_ They became the best of friends and fell more in love every day. The handsome boy showed her the world, and in turn the beautiful girl became his air._

_ When the girl was old enough to wed, the boy asked for her hand. They were married and lived and loved and died in peace and happiness._

Too bad that's not Aang's and Katara's story.

* * *

082. Heal

_Star-crossed Angel _

Hands glowing ethereal blue, swathed in crystal water—she had been blessed _(cursed)_ with healing abilities.

Skin melted together over wounds; bruises disappeared under the skin. Tears evaporated and cries faded away. She mended bones and stayed bleeding; gashes sewed together and burns went as quickly as they came.

People called her an angel.

But there were times when too much blood had been lost; the wound was too severe; the healing had come too late.

_(He lay before her, pale and trembling. Her water skin was empty.) _

She knew how to heal many things, but not a broken heart.


	5. 053

053. Protect

_Territory_

_"You might have everyone else here buying your... _transformation_, but you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past. _

Everyone is _so willing_ to accept him with open arms and misplaced trust, but I know better. I know Zuko, I know how he works, I've fallen victim to his "transformation."

I'm not so willing to forgive.

_So let me tell you something right now:_

Once upon a time, _I_ had been the naïve soul so trusting, so _stupid_ as to believe he had changed. But not anymore.

(Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.)

_You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang,_

He may have everyone else twisted around his finger, but I know better. I know what he wants, and I'm not going to let Zuko have him.

_and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore,_

You can have him, Zuko…

_because I'll make sure your destiny ends right then and there... permanently."_

over your dead body.


	6. 002, 003, 014

**Author's Notes: **Three drabbles inspired by _The Fortuneteller_.

Alisa

* * *

002. Wind

_Element of Love_

Katara loves the wind.

There's something so comforting, she finds, in the way it brushes past her cheeks, slips its fingers through her hair.

She thinks, in some unconscious thought, that it reminds her of Aang. Its gentle touch, its tender embrace, its playful fingers toying with her dress… it reminds her, unquestionably, painfully, of Aang.

So she steps into the warm breeze and lets it wash over her like a lover. She turns up her palms and welcomes it into her arms. She hears laughter in the air.

In this moment, the wind embraces Katara and Katara embraces Aang.

* * *

003. Change

_The Beginning_

Her eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, what did you just say?"

Her brother shrugs, his eyes observing the majestic form of the Avatar. "Nothing, just that Aang is one powerful bender."

She turns to Aang… the Avatar, her friend, the goofy little boy with a world of worries that never reach his smile. The boy who wove her a necklace of fishing line. The boy who makes her smile at his childishly sweet adoration. The boy she trusts with all her heart. (The boy she trusts _with_ her heart.)

The faintest of realization settles over her. "I suppose he is."

* * *

014. Clouds

_A Path Set in Stone_

Aunt Wu had told him, so very long ago, that he could shape his own destiny—regardless of what she had seen in the fragments of bone that had littered her room—and reshape it to his own dreams and desires.

But as battle and war and _death_ raged on around him, his eyes fell on Katara—her water whip, her fierce eyes, her too big heart _(had she felt his lips on hers?)_—and he wondered if he really could.

He faced the Fire Lord's palace and wondered if his destiny was to do anything but fight and die.


	7. 027, 038, 039

027. Sun 

_Between Two Suns_

Iroh mentioned to Katara once, off-handedly, that she and Zuko would make a fine couple.

He could almost see the fury in her eyes burst forth like the fire from his nephew's palms when he'd heard the same gentle prompting.

"Opposites attract," Iroh sagely reminded her. "Fire and water work together just as yin and yang circle each other, or as the sun and moon give light to the earth."

The flame in the waterbender's eyes flared momentarily, then simmered into a cool knowledge.

"Don't forget, Iroh," she responded, a too-sweet smile lighting her features, "Aang is a Firebender, too."

* * *

038. Jealousy 

_Competition_

Aang held the girl tenderly in his arms and whispered sweetly in her ear as she slowly drifted off to sleep. Joy and peace shone in his smile.

Katara tapped her foot anxiously as she observed the two. She knew it was wrong, but she almost felt a little—

No, she wasn't—couldn't be—wouldn't be… was she?

Katara shook her head. No, of course not.

Laughter rang from the kitchen and Aang shushed Sokka as he sauntered in.

"Katara," her brother hissed. "Toph and I just wanted to know—you're not jealous of our daughter, are you?"

She blushed.

* * *

039. Crush 

_Someone's Got to Lose_

Back at the Air Temple, Aang didn't have to worry about "crush" or "like" or "in love." It was black and white, love and hate, where everybody liked everybody.

But in the real world, Aang knows it's different.

He knows you have to win affection. He knows you have to be unconditional and relentless. He knows you have to sometimes be what you're not to reach that one perfect girl. He knows that sometimes it take a little back-stabbing.

And he knows best of all, as Katara links hands with her husband, that it's not called a crush for nothing.


	8. 040

040. (Dirty) Dancing

_Cheat the Cheater_

He clutches at his cold glass as his eyes follow the seductive swing of her hips. Hands in her hair, eyes closed, dripping face, she dances with another man.

His eyebrows pucker. Her hands run down his chest, fingertips trailing. His hands move to her hips, feel their pulsing swing. A scowl darkens his features, but he can't turn away.

"Kinda pisses you off, doesn't it?"

Surprise, and he finally notices the girl sitting next to him.

"Is that your girlfriend?" she asks.

"I _thought_ so."

"Well, she's dancing with my boyfriend."

Surprise, again.

She extends a hand. "I'm Katara."


End file.
